Bottle stopper and fastener



Dec. 24, 1940. F. G. DREssr-:R 2,225,860

BOTTLE STOPPER AND FASTENER Filed Nov. lo, 1959 z fr Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES r'reNT orrlce 4 claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a bottle stopper and fastener. More especially it has to do with a stopper and fastener particularly useful with bottles holding acids or other chemicals.

For years it has been customary to provide socalled reagent bottles with a tapered ground seat in their necks and to provide a glass stopper having a like ground tapered surface for engagement with said seat. Usually the stopper is ground with the neck of the bottle, especiallyin those bottles which are to contain a highly volatile fluid, in order that the closure may be as nearly leak-proof as possible.

1-5 Sulphuric acid and many chemical salts, es-

pecially the caustics, will frequently cause the stopper to stick so tightly in the neck that it can not be readily removed. In attempting to free the stopper it, or the neck of the bottle, is not infrequently broken. In the event of such a stopper becoming lost or broken, its particular bottle becomes to an extent also useless because a differently ground stopper will almost invariably fail to make a sufficiently tight fit with the tapered ground surface of the neck. Moreover, the grinding of the stopper and neck, even when done together, is not entirely a satisfactory procedure, because with the best of care and skill it is not an infrequent occurrence to find the stopper unable to make as tight a closure as desired. It is notan uncommon experience to find the strength of solutions materially weakened by the leaking of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere past the tapered ground surface into the bottle. In other cases, where the contents of the bottle is a highly volatile solution, the volatile constituent passes from the liquid to the 'gaseous state and then escapes outward past the ground surfaces thus upsetting the stability of the solution.

It is an object of my invention to do away entirely with tapered ground surfaces and to employ as the stopper a simple substantially fiat glass disk. In using such a disk the top'of the bottle, usually somewhat flanged, is ground With a at ring-like surface, and a similar iiat vsurface is ground on one face of the disk. Since it is not so difficult to grind flat surfaces as it is tapered ones, especially with glass articles, the bottle tops and disks may conveniently be ground entirely separately and still when any disk is placed on any bottle, a satisfactory tight t between ground surfaces is enjoyed. Where the 5 bottle is used for unusually highly volatile uid,

a thin smear of Vaseline or like substance between the ground surfaces will entirely avoid any loss of the bottles contents, or any infiltration of carbon dioxide.

Coupled With the use of a :dat disk stopper my invention also involves a fastener for normally holding the disk on the bottle when the latter is not in use. This fastener may readily be unfastened and swung out of the Way by the use of only one hand, thus permitting the chemist or druggist or any other user for that matter, to hold a beaker in one hand and reach for his reagent bottle with the other, the latter hand being fully capable of releasing the fastener, swinging it out of the Way and lifting off the disk stopper. When the desired quantity of the chemical has been poured into the beaker, the disk stopper may be replaced and the fastener swung back into its closed position and latched, still by the employment of only one hand.`

The best mode in which I have contemplated applying the principles of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing but this is to be deemed illustrative only because it is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a bottle with stopper and fastener embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the same, looking from the left of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken as on line 3 3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a plan of the bottle stopper alone.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the ordinary reagent bottle l is ground on its top edge la to provide a at ring-shaped seat lb. A disk stopper 2 also of glass is ground on one face to provide a fiat surface l2a. On the opposite side the disk is preferably provided with a round edge 2b for ease in handling the stopper and its top surface has an inwardly tapered portion 2c sloping to a circular depression 2d having a flat bottom. On the latter the curved end of a spring 3 of the fastener may seat and thereby, while the fastener is in the holding position 'seen in Figure 3, retain the disk stopper from dislodgment.

The fastener comprises a pair of band members 4 and 5 having outstanding ends la and. 5a which are secured together as by a bolt 6 on one side of the bottle neck Ic. On the opposite side of the neck the bands are extended in separated relation to form holders 4b and 5b for an axle pin 'l which may be riveted in place. Pivotally mounted on this pin is a L-shaped member 8 to the inner face of which, in the region of its pivoted end, is secured the spring 3 as by welding or other suitable attaching means. At its end remote from the axle pin 1, the member 8 is secured Vto a second spring 9 which is also L-shaped and extends downward to terminate in a hooked end 9a so dispose-d as to engage a notch I0 in the edges of the band ends 4a and 5a. Secured to the downwardly extending portion of the spring 9 is a stiff handle H, which bends over to above the turned-up end Eu, of the member 8. The handle then continues rearward and somewhat upward to terminate in a finger-bend Ila.

When the stopper 2 is in closed position, as shown in section in Figure 3, it is held firmly against the flat ground surface lb on the top edge of the bottle, the spring 3 being then exed to provide a yieldable holding force. To remove the stopper, the handle Il is pressed downward on the right side of the fulcrum 4edge 8a. This d'epresses the lever 8, spring 3 yielding, and also moves spring 9 downward and outward to disengage the notch l0. Because of the novel arrangement of the lever members and the springs, a very light pressure is all that is required to release the fastener. As before noted, the simple light pressure not only moves spring 9 downward but also outward since the downward movement is about the fulcrum on axle of the member 8 while the outward movement of spring 9 is about the fulcrum edge 8a. The entire fastener .may then be swung to the position shown in ,dotted outline and the glass stopper 2 removed.

Preferably the stud 1 is riveted tightly enough to afford a frictional grip of the band ends 4b and Eb on the hub of the member 8, and in any event the forenger of the hand may be held on the curved end of handle 8 if the latter is swung around far enough to rest against the side of the bottle as shown in dotted outline.

When replacing the stopper, the fastener is swung anticlockwise until the spring 3 rests in the depression of the stopper. The handle Il is pressed upon forward of the fulorum edge 8a, to force the spring 9 downward so that its hooked end will engage the notch I0. The stopper will ythereafter be held tightly in place, the two flat ground surfaces making a good tight closure. When chemicals which are extremely volatile, Vaseline or a like substance may be smeared on the ground surfaces to prevent any escape of vapor from the bottle.

I claim:

l. A kstopper and fastener for a glassI bottle having a ground flat ring-like surface at its top, comprising a glass stopper having a ground at surface for engagement with the said ground surface of the bottle, and a fastener secured to the neck of the bottle having a member pivoted on one side of the neck and detachably engaged on the other side of the neck, said member extending over the stopper having yielding engagement therewith to hold the stopper in closed position on the bottle and having a handle portion attached to the member on the side remote from its pivot and extending across the top of the bottle toward its pivot whereby said member is disengaged from its stopper holding position upon depression of the said handle portion toward the stopper.

2. A stopper and fastener for a glass bottle having a ground at ring-like surface at its top, comprising a glass stopper having a ground flat surface for engagement with the said ground surface of the bottle, and a fastener having a supporting member secured to the neck of the bottle and supporting an axle pin on one side of the neck, a second member pivoted on said pin and extending over and across the stopper for detachable engagement with the supporting member on the other side of said neck, a spring member interposed between said second member and said stopper for holding the latter on the bottle, and a handle member attached to said second member near its detachable engagement with the supporting member and extending over said second member toward its pivoted end; the said handle member upon being depressed toward said second member effecting the disengagement of said second member from the supporting member on the side of the neck remote from the pivot.

3. A stopper and fastener for a glass bottle having a ground flat ring-like surface at its top, comprising a glass stopper having a ground flat surface for engagement with the said ground surface of the bottle, and a fastener having a pair of band members secured to the neck of the bottle and supporting an axle pin between them on one side of the neck and providing a notch on the other side of the neck, an L-shaped member pivotally mounted on said pin, extending therefrom over the top of the bottle, a spring attached to said L-shaped member in position to engage the stopper, a second spring attached to said L-shaped member and arranged to extend downward to engage in said notch to effect the holding of the stopper on the bottle by said fastener; and a handle attached to the last said spring and extending back over the L-shaped member for releasing the last said spring from said notch upon the handle being pressed toward the L- shaped member.

4. A stopper and fastener for a glass bottle having a ground flat ring-like surface at its top, comprising a glass stopper having a ground flat surface for engagement with the said ground surface of the bottle and having a formed depression in its upper surface, and a fastener attached to the neck of the bottle having a supporting member mounted on the neck of the bottle, a second member pivotally mounted on said supporting member on one side of the neck and extending over and across the top of the bottle for detachable engagement with said supporting member on the other side of the neck; said second member including a spring element arranged to engage in the formed depression on the stopper to position said stopper on the ground surface of the bottle and hold it there while said second member is engaged with said supporting member; and a handle attached to the said second member near its detachably engaged end and extending back over said second member for releasing said second member from its detachable engagement upon the handle being depressed toward said second member.

FRANK G. DRESSER. 

